The Most Valuable Brands in China That You Probably Never Heard of

In a survey commissioned by advertising conglomerate WPP, Chinese web and social media companies like Baidu and Sina featured strongly in the valuation of China’s top 50 brands. But it was the China Mobile, the company with the world’s largest amount of cash holdings that took the coveted spot as China’s most valuable brand.

Brands in China never have been more important.

Wide Internet penetration and commercial expansion beyond the major urban costal enclaves are among factors making households throughout China more value conscious and brand discerning.

According to a media statement released Tuesday, 13 Dec. market researcher MillwardBrown revealed that China Mobile remained at the top spot of its "BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Chinese Brands" ranking, while the remaining brands that rounded up the top 5 were the country’s “Big Four” banks: the ICBC, China Construction Bank, Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China. (See chart of the top 25 ranked Chinese brands added by EconMatters)

Source: MillwardBrown, 13 Dec. 2011 (Added by EconMatters)

Commissioned by WPP and into its second year, the annual brand study, which analyses financial information of listed companies’ brands and paired it with data from a survey of 35,000 consumers, reveals that value of Chinese brands has grown by to $325 billion in the past year, up 16% from a year earlier.

The report added that China's online brands saw a "phenomenal rise" in the list, with growth driven by the country's massive Internet population of about 485 million online users and its highly dispersed population.

Chinese search giant, Baidu, was at sixth spot with a brand value of US$16.26 billion, a growth of 67 percent over last year. Web portal Sina saw its brand value grow a "remarkable" 244 percent to reach US$2.25 million this year and its ranking climbed 15 places to reach No. 25 on the list, said the report.

However, as Reuters pointed out, China state giants have brand clout, but little fame abroad.

Eighty percent of consumers outside China can't name a Chinese brand, said Doreen Wang, a group account director at Millward Brown.